Dating websites have become one of the most popular ways to meet someone special. Millions of Americans are using dating apps to find love – but there’s a dark side.
From “catfishing” to requesting money and then “ghosting,” there are a lot of scams to watch out for.
From Hinge to Tinder to BlackPeopleMeet.com, nearly 40% of couples in the U.S. have met online.
That means scammers have a lot of people to choose from when planning their deception – dating website and app users have collectively lost a whopping $1 billion in scams last year!
The most common scams involve fraudsters creating fake profiles and asking for money after making a connection. These scammers are able to build trust by preying on people’s loneliness or other vulnerabilities. And it's happening most frequently to a very surprising age group!
The targets of these online dating scams are varied in age, but older people have reported the highest losses. According to the FBI, people over the age of 70 who were scammed lost an average of over $9,000, compared to people under 30, who lost an average of $750.
Online dating has become a normal part of how many of us meet new people these days. But as we enjoy its accessibility and ease, we have to beware of scams and keep our money safe!